Music - Vent or Influence

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I'm sure we've all heard of music being blamed for screwing up someones life, causing them to commit suicide, ect. Two or so days ago Baezlebub was talking in the chatroom about how a mother believed that her daughter had committed suicide because of Adam's Song by Blink 182. But also I've heard other people say that people will choose the music which personifies (not really the word I was looking for) them, and it is impossible for someone to be influenced by what they are listening to.
So I ask, what way do you think it really goes?

 

Both. One is drawn to the music which embodies either his psyche, or what he wishes it to be; and that music can only reinforce such frames of mind within the partcipant. Not necessarily the same thoughts as one wishes to vent, but thoughts contained within nonetheless.

You are not playing fair.

A:2, M:0

 

I think that music can be tremendously influencing...for bad and for good. Aside from the lyrics, there is a very unique way that a musical backdrop can carry the message into your brain in ways that you can't imagine.

I try to be very careful about what not only my kids, by I listen to. Just as an example, I really liked the sound of "Evanesence" (although now I am rather sick of them), but almost every song has a suicidal undertone to it. I am not saying that music can make you do something that you weren't inclined to do in the first place, but a receptive mind can be pushed over the edge by musical influence. It is incredibly powerful and subtle.

Now, these people who want to sue Eminem because his music made them stab their Dad...that's nuts...but we all have a responsibility to be aware of the effect that music can have on our mood and disposition.

[Thanks, Aikanaro...if you build it, they will come ]

 

IMO, music is much like anything else - T.V., movies, video games, etc. As Manus said, it can reinforce pre-existing frames of mind, but it won't create a mindset that wasn't there in the first place.

 

Aye, music can be subversive though, and I think our subconcious can be open to all kinds of influence. Not one that isn't there perhaps, but maybe one we buried deep, one we deny, or try to overcome?

Hacken Slash has brought up a good point. Beside lyrics, music itself can have an astounding influence upon all things, especially the human mind.

I have read of tests, plants grown with classical music healthier than those grown to rock, or heavy metal, or other such abrasive tones, or none at all.

This is off-topic of sorts. But there was, and perhaps still is, a sect of monks in the Himalaya, who believed they could discover a sacred tone, one which would open an extra-dimensional portal. Many monastaries healed with a sounding bowl formed of seven elements.

Perhaps out of our range of experience, and most probably out of range of our threshold of credibility as well, but it is interesting, food for thought.

 

I think that music can infulence peoples moods, but I do not think it can drive someone to do something they were not predisposed to do.

 

Music can be inspiring, and motivating. I remember finishing my last longer essay on Suicidal Tendencies and strong coffee & chockolate - and I was "flying" while typing.

Music also is a mood amplifyer - be in a good mood and lsten to more cheerful or funny music and you'll have a great time, be in a silly mood and listen to The Cure that'll intensify that too ...

 

It's possible to reach subconsciousness directly with a visual or sonic symbol. As a result, minds can be programmed to perform a certain task or to feel a particular feeling, or think in a given way. It's not the case with most of music, anyway.

The big secret is that music influences our emotions, and our emotions, big surprise, influence our actions significantly, if not decisively.

On numerous occasions, I've used certain specific kinds of music to affect my mood in a desired way. Dances, marches, chorals, whatever I feel like at the moment. Or, more deliberately, I have played specific music in background while putting something in words, for example writing a letter. Like switching on Imperial March before replying to certain e-mails. Court dances for elegant and elaborate correspondence. BG2 music for nostalgia. Crusader-style lofty mediaeval tunes for "you suck and I rule" sort of mail. And so on.

 

Yeh i think music plays a big part in determing your mood, but strangley enough, even Evancescence can make me feel happy, but not as much as The Darkness can.

Also i agree with Chev, music can affect the way you write etc... i always seem to write happier storys when listening to upbeat music like The Darkness or Red Hot Chilli Peppers (i dont post any of them because there not all that good) and sadder storys when i listen to Evanescence or Nickleback.

But i dont belive that it could make you commit suicide unless you were planning to or strongly thinking about it, the music is just the part that pushes you over the edge (no pun intended)